Toys in the Attic
by Montana-Bob
Summary: What might have happened if, when Andy was carrying his trash bag full of toys up the attic stairs at the beginning of TS3, Molly had come out of her room ten seconds later.
1. Prologue

The usual: I don't own the Toy Story characters; I just love them and wanted to put down a story I dreamed up about them. Nor do I own the 'Noel' character who I wanted to find a way to work into this story. The "real" Noel could get out of the attic any time he wanted to, but once I found a way around that problem, the story practically wrote/is writing itself.

PROLOGUE

Woody leaped out of the box labeled "college" and ran across Andy's bedroom floor in a panic. The trash bag that all of his friends had just been stuffed into was being dragged down the hall away from him, and Woody was more frightened than he'd ever been in his life.

He didn't want to believe that it would all come to this; that he would go away alone to college with Andy, with his friends left at the curb for the trash collector. It couldn't be; Andy wouldn't do that! He ran to the wall and hid, peeking out into the hall at the edge of the bedroom door.

Hope flared in him when Andy paused underneath the ceiling panel leading to the stairs into the attic and looked up. When he gently set the trash bag down and reached up to pull the rope that opens the trapdoor, Woody breathed a sigh of relief. He watched the panel open and the stairs into the ceiling unfold downward. His friends _were _going into the attic! They would all be safe, and together, only without him. They would be fine.

Andy picked up the trash bag and had taken five steps up the ladder when Molly came out of her room carrying a box packed all the way to the top with old toys to be donated to Sunnyside Daycare Center. She stumbled, and her magic 8-ball fell out of the box, hit the floor, and rolled.

Andy looked down at her and said "Hey, you need a hand?" Woody gasped, hoping that nothing would distract Andy from getting his friends tucked safely into the attic.

Molly looked up at him and said, "I got it," but it was apparent the box was too awkward for her, and she looked up at him hopefully. Woody held his breath, hoping Andy would take the bag up to the attic first.

Andy paused on the stairs for a moment, considering whether to set the trash bag back down and help his little sister now, or finish the errand he had started first. In the end, he took another step upward, hauling the bag behind him. "Give me a couple minutes to set this up here, and I'll come back and carry that downstairs for you," Andy told her, and she nodded and set the box on the floor and went to retrieve the 8-ball.

Woody breathed a sigh of relief and watched from the edge of the doorway as Andy's shoes and then the trash bag disappeared into the attic. They were up there for several minutes; he hid behind the wall once when Andy's mom walked around the corner, then came out to watch again when she was gone. Woody could hear things being moved, the trash bag rustling, and he thought even Andy's voice at one point. Molly even walked around to look up the stairs to see what was taking so long. Woody peeked around the corner, wondering what was happening up there, and then Andy's sneakers appeared on the top of the ladder and he began to climb down. "Now then," he said to Molly as he descended the last three steps. "Let's get you downstairs without you falling down and breaking your neck."

He walked away from the steps without closing the trapdoor over to the box, picked it up and led the way down the hall, Molly following him. "So…you gonna miss me when I'm gone?" Their voices trailed off. When they were gone, Woody looked cautiously up and down the hallway, than ran out until he was at the bottom of the ladder. He didn't dare go up it because people were still nearby. "Psst! Hey guys!"

Several heads appeared in the opening to the attic, First Buzz and Jessie, then Slinky and Hamm, and eventually all of them stood there looking sadly down at Woody. Buzz leaned out as far as he could, held out his hand in a long distance handshake and said: "Woody…it's nice up here." Jessie looked at Buzz for a moment, then back at Woody and nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah…" Woody looked up at them and tried to smile. "This must be that high note we were going to go out on, huh Buzz?"

"Oh, Woody" Jessie cried. "We'll be okay; we're all together…and you're going to college with Andy. And Woody…" She paused and looked away from him to the others clustered around her at the attic trap door.

"Go on, Jessie, tell him!" Slinky said, and the moment felt like they were electing her their spokesperson. "Yeah," Hamm said and several others nodded. Even Bullseye whinnied and nodded his head in agreement.

Jessie looked back down at Woody. "Woody…he _talked _to us! He said some really nice things about us! And about you! About how we meant a lot to him and how he would never forget any of us." She looked around at the others, and went on. "He said he couldn't let you go yet, but thought he'd be bringing you home to us soon, because he said you'd be safer here, and we should all be together." She drew herself up straight, fighting tears. "Oh Woody…he told us he loves us!"

"And he really loves you, Cowboy," Buzz said. "He's taking YOU with him for now. This isn't good bye. I don't think anything can permanently separate Team Woodrow Pride Lightyear."

Woody laughed, but there was sadness in it. "I guess you're right, Space Ranger." He heard the front door of the house open downstairs. "Andy will be back soon. I guess this is it for now guys." He smiled up at them. "Rex…Slinky…_Buzz!_"

One by one, they said their good byes. Then they heard the sound of feet approaching the stairs. With a final look up, Woody tipped his hat to his friends and ran back to the 'college' box.


	2. Chapter 2 Four Years Later

Dawn light crept into the eastern window of the attic. As usual, Buzz was the first of the toys to be up and about, and was in his regular place, sitting on the window sill looking out as the sun came up. He could tell by how near the sun rose to the edge of the chimney on the house next door they were getting close to winter. On those coldest and darkest days, it came up at its most southerly (and directly behind that chimney), and in the coming weeks would start rising more to the north as spring approached.

It was amazing how much one could learn from an old set of encyclopedias lined up along the floor of an attic with almost unlimited time on his hands. He knew from the sun's position that they were only a couple of weeks from the first day of winter (and Christmas, a sad time for a new friend they had made in the attic.) It would be cold all the time in the attic for a while, and the days would be very short.

But Buzz was happy with his life as it was now, and he knew the others were too. The short days also meant long nights snuggling with Jessie keeping each other warm while they cuddled and whispered and fell asleep together. They all had their routines, there was lots to do in the attic, they were all warm enough even on the coldest snowiest days of winter, and they were all together.

Speaking of routines, Buzz smiled and watched as one of theirs began to unfold. The familiar faint rattling sound of one of his best friends on the move came from behind a wall of boxes that separated the two halves of the attic, coming to join them for a while before going off to get his own version of a night's rest. A little clear pink plastic Christmas ornament about three inches in diameter with a small light inside and a well-worn but cheerful face painted on it rolled across the floor from behind the boxes near the west window and picked up speed as it rolled closer to Buzz. It rolled awkwardly, off balance from the odd little bump on one end of it next to his hook which held a little battery and photovoltaic cell that powered him. It rolled to the edge of the wall beneath the windowsill where Buzz sat, looked up at him with the little light that shined within him and cheerfully announced:

"My name is Noel…and I have a happiness!" and then laughed gleefully at the commotion he knew he would cause. A moment later, a chorus of voices came from behind the boxes where the Potatoheads made their home: "You saved our lives! We are eternally grateful!"

"Yeah, yeah." Mr. Potatohead's voice came from behind the boxes. "Pipe down kids, we know already." There was no real anger in his voice, only the slight resignation that comes from repeating the same ritual day after day for so long. Mrs. Potatohead's cheerful giggling came from around the same boxes, and then Hamm let lose an exaggerated morning yawn. Soon, all the toys were stirring as the attic brightened.

One by one, the toys all came from the places they spend the nights, gathering in the clear area near one end of the attic ('their' side, the bigger side, while Noel spent a lot of his time on the other). Buzz climbed down from the windowsill and joined them, Noel rolling across the floor close behind, beaming a faint light from within him as he went. He would sleep soon, nestled safely on the south windowsill so the sun shone on his little power cell.

"Did everyone sleep okay?" Buzz said with a sly look toward Jessie, who smiled happily.

"Great, Buzz!" Rex exclaimed. "Really good."

"You were snoring loud enough," Mr. Potatohead grumbled. "We all know how well you slept."

Woody came around a box, riding Bullseye and twirling a lasso. He threw one end of the rope…and it landed on the floor next to Hamm. "Ha! Missed me again," the pig mocked.

"I'll get you tomorrow." Woody retrieved the rope and climbed down from Bullseye. As they always did, they all gathered first in the large, relatively clutter-free clearing in the attic. Noel and Buzz read one of the encyclopedias for awhile, and once Noel couldn't stop dozing off, Buzz carried him to the other side of the attic and gently set him in the window. Soon they fell naturally into smaller groups, reading books, playing games, or exploring the attic—something they never tired of. Whoever once lived here had packed a _lot_ of stuff up here, and they were always discovering new things.

Another day had begun in the attic.


	3. Chapter 3 Noel

Noel, the little glowing Christmas ornament with his own power supply, first became aware of being conscious when a little boy of about 8 named Tommy looked down at him in wonder. Freshly unwrapped, his little battery powercell hadn't drank in any light yet to power him, yet the little clear red plastic ball with a smiling face knew all the same that he had just awoken.

"You're beautiful…" the boy whispered, and his parents smiled, happy to see his face lit up with joy at this early Christmas present.

"We know how much you liked that cartoon on TV, so daddy and I got you a Noel for our Christmas tree," his mom told him. Noel, still gently clutched in Tommy's hands, listened to them and understood their words even though he didn't know how he was able to. He just somehow knew this boy was going to make him very happy, at least for a while. "And we got you this."

She handed him a small, brightly wrapped gift with a shiny green bow. The gift was the exact size of a video cassette tape, and the boy gently opened it (still carefully holding Noel) and took out the videotape inside. "Noel!" he exclaimed excitedly.

'Now you can watch it whenever you want to," daddy said, and Tommy wasted no time. He put the videotape into the VCR, and sitting in a chair holding the little ornament gently in his lap with his painted smiling face towards the TV, they watched the Christmas cartoon together. Noel learned his story for the first time; he was a plastic ornament based on a Christmas cartoon about a little hand-blown decoration who had come to life with his own special happiness, after the elderly glass blower who was lovingly creating him received the news that he had just become a grandfather. A single tear of joy found its way from the old glass blower's wizened cheek into the still-hot Noel, and it was that tear which had brought him to life. Noel watched the cartoon while Tommy gently held him, fascinated.

While they were watching, a wonderful thing happened. The Noel ornament in Tommy's little hands was soaking in a bit of power from the lamp next to them, and he was beginning to glow from within. When the tape ended, Tommy looked down and saw Noel glowing for the first time, white-orange inside the red plastic. Little flecks of sparkle buried deep within his plastic body reflected back every color of the rainbow.

"Wow…" he whispered. "You're so beautiful, Noel."

From then on, they were inseparable. When the other ornaments were put away in the attic, Noel was hung in the west window in Tommy's bedroom for the rest of the year to soak up daylight and then shine with his cheerful pastel glow for hours after nightfall. That little light shining in the darkness helped Tommy fall asleep…especially on the nights when he was scared, or the pain was worse.

Tommy often talked to Noel, about how beautiful his glow was at night (he called it Noel's "smile"), and sometimes about his days. He sometimes used words that Noel didn't understand, like doctor and chemotherapy, but he knew they were bad, hurtful things. Noel often wished he could talk to Tommy but somehow knew he wasn't supposed to, and he wasn't even sure if he would be able to if he tried.

Tommy was not a very active boy and spent a lot of time in his room. He didn't go to school and was instead lovingly home schooled by his mother, and had few toys, preferring reading books to playing. Noel, knowing he was an ornament and not a toy and thus wouldn't be played with anyway, loved Tommy and the relationship they had, Noel hanging from his little hook next to the window, Tommy often talking to him, or watching him shine as he drifted off to sleep at night.

Noel counted three more Christmases spent with Tommy by how many times daddy carried him from his spot by the window and hung him from the Christmas tree for a week, only to return him safely to his spot in Tommy's room after all the other ornaments had been packed away. Every year they watched that videotape of the cartoon that had been the inspiration for Tommy's Noel, who came to know as much happiness and love as any toy ever had. Each time the cartoon Noel on the TV said, "My name is Noel…and I have a happiness!" Noel beamed with joy at being created after such a happy little being.

A few weeks after that last Christmas, Tommy disappeared again. He had been looking especially thin and tired, and he often disappeared for days or weeks when he looked like that, but he always came back and sometimes looked better for awhile.

This time he just never came back, and Noel found himself forgotten beside that window. His little inner light dimmed, while all around him things changed, and disappeared. Scariest of all was the day mommy and daddy came into the room and roughly took apart and removed Tommy's little bed. Noel knew they were angry by the way they weren't talking, and wondered what they could be this mad at each other about when Tommy wasn't with them anymore.

One day he found himself being taken down from the window by Tommy's mom and put carelessly into a box with a lot of other things that once belonged to Tommy. Noel looked up at the light one last time while she pushed the box lids closed holding a roll of tape, and then from underneath the lids, Noel heard the terrifying sound of the tape being unrolled, and felt the lid being pushed down, mashing him against the silent clothes and books. He was sealed up into darkness and fell into a long, dreamless sleep.

While he slept, that box went into a garage, and then into a public storage unit for a while, and then found its way to an auction. There, someone bought it, unopened and sight unseen, for five dollars and brought it home. It stayed sealed in another garage for a while, and then was moved up a couple flights of stairs into an attic, having never been opened. There it sat for many years while Noel slept unaware, and slowly the summer heat and dry attic air year after year dried and stiffened the tape sealing the box. One day, one of the box flaps popped open after the tape finally wore out, and that afternoon a ray of sunshine from one of the windows found its way under the box flap to Noel's little button power cell. Noel stirred for the first time in years, and slowly took in his new surroundings.

"My name is Noel," he finally whispered hoarsely, and his own voice startled him. "And I…had a happiness…"

0-0-0-0-0

The next day, all the way on the other side of town, little Andy Davis unwrapped a birthday present and carefully removed a small cloth and plastic cowboy doll wearing a ten gallon hat. He gently tugged on the doll's pull string, and when the cowboy said "You're my favorite deputy!" it was love at first sight.


	4. Chapter 4 Noel 2

It was two days before Noel even got out of the box. Being a three-inch plastic sphere with no arms or legs, just that dime sized hump that held his little battery and the photocell that recharged it, and next to that a little eyelet holding a hook to hang him from, it was hard to move around. He could roll around on a level surface, but not easily negotiate any sort of obstacle.

He finally found a way to use his hanger hook to drag himself along the other objects in the box, inch by inch to the edge and over, and finally dropping down onto the wood floor, where the sound of his landing was like a bouncing ping pong ball echoing in the otherwise silent rafters. Now he could roll around the floor of the attic all he wanted to and he wasted no time, rolling himself past several obstacles to a patch of sun streaming in through a window. He drank in the light and felt himself growing stronger. His sadness for Tommy was still there, but it was muted now, more in the background. Somehow he knew that wasn't to be forever, and now he had a new life to begin.

He soon learned that the attic was a very silent, lonely, and cluttered place. Everything he saw was from three inches above the floor, and he spent days rolling around the attic learning where everything (at least what he could see of it) was. There were hundreds of books lined up on the floor along two of the walls towering above him toward the ceiling, and a large haphazard pile of boxes (including the one that had imprisoned him) that almost divided the attic in two. Noel marveled that nothing had ever been set on top of the box he had been trapped in, or he would still be asleep inside it, instead of free to roam around this amazing room. In addition to the books and boxes, there were chairs and tables, dressers and bureaus, and a large mirror in a wood frame leaning against a wall.

There was no one to talk to, but Noel finally found a kind of solace in that. No one to talk to meant no one to care about and possibly lose. There was a well-worn set of the 1982 Encyclopedia Britannica lined up along the wall that more than a decade later Buzz Lightyear would begin to read along with him (Buzz sitting cross-legged on whatever page he was reading with the book lying open on the floor, Noel reading while lying in his lap). They were much too big for Noel to move, but he discovered he didn't need to. Just standing in front of one of the giant books and sending his thoughts into it allowed him to slowly absorb the knowledge they contained. He became very wise over the years, and spent his nights rolling around the crowded attic floor, lighting his own way when there was no moonlight, pausing often before the encyclopedias or one of the other books to "read". It took him almost two years to get through an ancient and battered copy of 'War and Peace' that a bookworm had burrowed a tunnel through part of, obliterating a couple lines of text from each of over 350 pages toward the end, much to Noel's amused annoyance; he vowed to find another undamaged copy of this book and read it again someday.

Sometimes he listened to the voices of the people who lived downstairs right after the sun set, when he woke up. There were two of them, what sounded like a mommy and a daddy living by themselves. Those voices were always somber; there was never any excitement or happiness in them. But there also wasn't the anger Noel had sensed in Tommy's parents after he was gone. They were the only voices he could ever hear; no one ever once came up into the attic.

And always, every morning before the sun rose, he rolled himself to a place on the floor in front of the southern window so the sun would recharge him during the day while he slept. He had learned from the encyclopedia that the sun traveled higher across the sky in the summer, so he changed spots on the floor several times a year to get the best sunlight. Even a cloudy day was enough to recharge him and keep him going, but the bright sunny days gave him so much energy he felt at times he could go for weeks on a single recharge.

One day, Noel noticed that the house had grown very silent, and Noel knew the people living downstairs had gone away. Months went by without a sound coming from anywhere except Noel himself as he moved around, and eventually the endless silence day after day, broken only by the rattling sound he made when he rolled himself across the floor, began to wear on him. He held onto the hope that _something_ would happen someday to break up the monotony, but the more that time went by, the fainter that hope became.

One day without really thinking about it beforehand while he was pacing aimlessly about the attic, he suddenly sped up and rolled himself into a wall as fast and hard as he could, just to hear something beside the monotonous sound he made day after day as he moved. The surprisingly loud sound he made when he hit the wall echoed for several seconds, as did the sensation of having slammed himself into something almost hard enough to cause damage. He knew he could do it again even faster, and a part of him tried to rationalize doing just that, over and over. Anything had to be better than this constant silence and numbness. Then he realized with a stricken feeling that if he did it again he might not stop until he either cracked his shell or damaged the wiring from his battery to his light, so he made himself roll against something soft and willed himself to relax, wondering what he had just done and knowing he shouldn't do it again.

It was then that he began to have thoughts about rolling himself into a dark corner of the attic some morning soon instead of his sunny spot beneath the window, and falling asleep again. The endless silence was becoming more than he could bear, and the idea of returning to that long dreamless sleep he once endured was starting to appeal to him.

Then a short time later he heard new people moving in downstairs, and knew at once that these new people were very different. He heard _children's _voices, and what sounded like their mother, and he heard excitement and happiness in their voices as he listened to them moving into their new home.

For the first time in years he thought about Tommy. "Good bye," he thought one last time to the great out-there where he knew Tommy was now. He had learned years ago what 'chemotherapy' meant. "I know you're well…and have a happiness."

0-0-0-0-0

Noel learned from listening to the voices that drifted up through the attic floor that the children's names were Molly and Andy, and that they were both happy, wonderful kids…and that Andy had an amazing imagination. Noel sometimes lay awake on the floor during the day, listening to him playing with his toys in the room below him. They had some amazing and crazy adventures!

He often also heard another strange sound. He thought it was voices, many of them, but he couldn't make out any words. He heard them almost every day while Andy was at school, and during the day at other times when Andy was in another part of the house. Strangest of all, these sounds always went silent whenever he heard a person approaching where the sounds were coming from. This puzzled him for a long time.

One day, the sounds were especially loud, and that time he clearly heard a woman's southern drawl say: "Buzz, you men are all alike!" followed by a lot of laughter; then sudden pounding on the stairs as Andy ran up them unexpectedly, shouting "I left them in my room!" Noel suddenly heard a lot of the strange noises, a man's voice clearly say, "places everyone!" and sounds like clunks and things bumping into each other, and suddenly figured it out: The toys! They're alive like me, and talk to each other when people aren't around!

Noel became obsessed with the idea of meeting the toys; they were almost like his own kind, and maybe he would be able to talk to them. Having someone to interact with again after all these years seemed like the most wonderful thing he could hope for. But he had rolled around the attic floor enough times over the years to know there was no way out for him. The floor was solid boards fitted so closely together that there were no gaps between them, even around the trap door in the floor that lead downstairs. Anything higher than four or five inches was out of reach. And it seemed no one ever came up into the attic, so no one knew he was up there, and he didn't know if he would ever get to meet them or not.

0-0-0-0-0

Early one morning, a very strange thing happened. Noel had laid down under the window for the night earlier than usual. He was feeling especially discouraged after another day of listening to the voices downstairs, wishing he could be a part of the busy active life going on in the house below. Dawn hadn't even begun yet, and the only light was that of the full moon streaming in the windows.

Across the attic from him was the tall mirror leaning against the wall and Noel could see reflected in it the house across the street. It was dark, except for the reflections of the moonlight off its upstairs windows. Then, a tiny white light began to flash repeatedly in one of those windows. Noel rolled closer to the mirror, intrigued; it was strange, watching that little point of light flash on and off. It had a very rhythmic pattern, and Noel realized it kept repeating. He was suddenly thunderstruck; was it…yes! It was Morse Code; he had learned it some time ago from the encyclopedia and sometimes practiced with flashing his own little light. Someone was flashing the letters CQ CQ over and over, the signal that someone wanted to talk.

Noel rolled himself a few inches closer to the mirror, where he judged that whoever was signaling had the best chance to see him reflected back in it. He flashed back as bright as he could: HELLO

The flashing from across the street stopped for a second, then resumed. HELLO it spelled out this time. GOOD TO C YOU.

GOOD TO C YOU TOO Noel flashed back. It was a good thing that yesterday had been a sunny day; this much bright flashing would wear him down quickly, even as his excitement at this unexpected encounter began to do so. The tiny light across the street signaled back:

CANT TALK LONG. PPL NEAR. There was a very long pause as if whoever was signaling was awaiting some sort of reply, and for a moment Noel thought his new friend might be gone. Then, quickly: C U TMRW ?

Noel didn't know what a "ppl" was, but he was more excited than he'd been since Tommy had first spotted his little light. He felt really alive and happy for the first time in years.

He flashed back: YES TMRW. The time and power-saving abbreviations were already coming naturally to him. Whoever was signaling to him was good; his Morse signals were perfectly readable, and Noel was delighted to finally be having a conversation with someone. He quickly added: WHO R U? But the stranger flashing Morse code across the street had stopped.

Noel couldn't sleep at all that day, and finally around noon he began rolling aimlessly around the attic. He managed to find something to fill an hour of his time. He wished he had a tape measure to wrap around himself to see exactly how big he was; the encyclopedia had taught him how to do math, and he learned that day that if he knew his circumference, he could figure out almost exactly how long the attic was by how many rolls it took him (about 77) to go from one end of the attic to the other. If he was a precisely 3-inch sphere, then the attic would be about 60 feet long.

About the time he began looking for a clear path to measure the attic's width, he noticed it was beginning to get dark outside. He rolled himself in front of the mirror, placing himself in the best position possible to see the window where the signals had come from last night. He waited impatiently as night fell and the attic and the world outside finally grew dark. He didn't have to wait long. A single CQ suddenly burst from the window across the street.

HI, Noel signaled back as brightly as he could. GOOD TO C U AGAIN. He had thought about how this conversation might go all day (in between pacing and measuring the attic) and was nervous. He was glad when the light across the street began flashing a long message.

GOOD TO SEE YOU TOO. CANT TALK LONG, PPL ALWAYS NEARBY. ERLY MORNING BEST TIME. U?

Noel thought hard about what he had said. Nothing in the encyclopedias had prepared him for what to do when he had to interact with someone. He finally managed to compose a reply:

ANYTIME OK WITH ME. He paused, then asked: WHAT IS A PPL?

SORRY, came back the quick reply. Noel knew he would have trouble keeping up at first with his new friend as he spoke so fast. PPL IS PEOPLE. PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS NEARBY. HARD FOR ME TO TALK LONG.

Noel digested this for a moment, figuring out what it meant. He finally replied: WHO R U?

IM A TOY TANK. MY GUN BARREL HAS AN LED AT THE END. IM SIGNALING U WITH IT. WHO R U? A pause, then: A TOY (pause) RIGHT?

Noel wasn't completely sure what to make of any of that either. He didn't know what an "led" was, nor why he was being asked if he were a toy, but it didn't matter; he could ask tomorrow or the next day. He had a friend again! He knew this friend would explain things to him if he asked.

It took a long time for him to flash: MY NAME IS NOEL. AND I HAVE A HAPPINESS. By the time he was finished, his friend was gone again.

Those two brief encounters led to years of nightly short conversations between Noel and the toy tank across the street, all carried out by flashing Morse code to each other. Noel learned that his new friend's name was Frank ("Frank the Tank"), and his light was probably just like Noel's. Frank explained to Noel what an LED was, something that had been invented after the encyclopedia was published, and that Noel probably had one himself, buried deep inside his plastic shell. Frank had a boy named Darren who loved him and all his other toys, and had a good life.

And so the years went by, Noel keeping himself busy as best he could, enjoying his nightly ten minute chats with Frank, reading, sleeping, listening to the voices of the family downstairs and getting to know them just from what he could hear coming up through the floor, and exploring the attic the best his limited perspective allowed. Over the next few years, time continued to dim his red shell to a faded pink and chipped his painted smile some, but his inner light was once again bright and he knew he wanted to stay around to see what was going to eventually happen next. He had been right once: Something _had_ happened, in fact two things, Frank and the new family downstairs, and now Noel felt optimistic that more things would happen as well. Every morning before he fell asleep he would whisper: "My name is Noel…and I have a happiness." It was his prayer.


	5. Chapter 5 Noel 3

**Quick author's note: I wanted to modify the previous chapter (removing the sneak preview and titling it "Noel 2") but was afraid I would break something. Please indulge me and imagine those changes actually occurred :)**

One afternoon years later, the trapdoor on the attic floor suddenly dropped open. It instantly awakened Noel. In all his years in the attic, this was the first time that had ever happened. He heard a plastic bag rustling, and then someone coming up the stairs, and he quickly rolled behind a box out of sight. A handsome dark-haired teenaged boy appeared in the opening, and then Noel heard something fall over downstairs. "Hey, do you need a hand?" the boy said, looking down. He heard another voice say, "I got it."

Andy paused half way up the steps as if considering something. Noel had a strange feeling that a very important decision was being made right now, and that if a different one were made in the next few seconds it would have serious implications for a lot of lives. Noel wasn't sure where the feeling was coming from, but it passed when Andy said, "Give me a couple minutes to set this up here, and I'll come back and carry that downstairs for you," He climbed the rest of the way up carrying a bulging trash bag behind him, then set the bag gently on the floor while he looked around the attic.

"What to do with you guys," Andy whispered. Noel watched, fascinated, as Andy looked around the cluttered attic, and seemed to decide on a tall table near one of the windows. He picked up the trash bag, carried it over to the table and set it back down on the floor again. Then he opened the bag and began pulling out toy after toy, one at a time, looking at each one of them individually before setting them carefully on top of the table, arranging them. There was a green toy dinosaur, a space man, a plastic piggy bank, a cowgirl doll (Noel wondered if it was her voice that he had once heard years ago, accusing someone named "Buzz" of being like all men). Andy pulled out toy after toy, and when the bag was finally empty, he stepped back to look at them. From his place on the floor behind the box, Noel could only see a few of the taller toys on top of the table.

Andy stood there staring at the table for a long time, and Noel sensed he was very sad. His shoulders were shaking. Finally he whispered, "Thanks, guys" and looked like he was going to walk off, then stopped again. "Guys…" His voice was trembling. "You really made my childhood special. I…" his voice trailed off for a moment and then went on, stronger now. "I will NEVER forget how much fun we had. You guys felt to me like you were almost alive. And you know…it's been years since I've played with you…but you still seem that way." He took a step closer to the table. "Rex…Jessie…Slinky…_all_ you guys. I love you. All of you. I don't want to let Woody go just yet, but I bet I'll be bringing him back soon. He'll be safer up here with you guys, and…you should all be together." It seemed like it got easier for him to speak as he went along.

"Buzz," he said, and Noel watched as Andy picked up the spaceman toy and made a whooshing sound as he slowly made the action figure fly through the air above the table. "Take care of these guys until Woody gets back, okay?" Now he held the spaceman directly in front of him looking directly into his eyes. "That's an order, Space Ranger."

Andy set Buzz back onto the table and after a final long look at them, went back over to the stairs and climbed down. "Now then," Noel heard Andy say, "Let's get you downstairs without you falling down and breaking your neck."

Noel watched from his hiding spot as the toys all started coming to life once Andy had left. It was obvious they had been friends for a long time. The cowgirl doll looked at the space ranger and said "Oh, Buzz" and rushed to his arms and he held her. A Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead were hugging each other while Mrs. Potatohead cried softly. The other toys, what Noel could see from his hiding place, were mostly standing around looking dazed. Then the slinky dog and piggy bank high-fived each other, and a small celebration began breaking out on the table. It seemed joyous, but obviously had a lot of history and sadness behind it as well. Noel knew this was an enormous moment for them, and even if he had felt ready to approach them, wouldn't interrupt it for anything.

"Hey, what about Woody?" Buzz suddenly said, and climbed down from the table. It again was obvious they were friends from way back as Noel watched some of the toys help the other ones down from the table. Buzz and the cowgirl helped first the dinosaur, then the Potatoheads (with three little green aliens clinging to the one with the moustache), and finally the piggy bank, and soon they were all standing on the floor. Noel could now see all of the smaller toys that he couldn't see when they were up on the table, and the whole group of them turned toward the steps when they heard from below: "Psst! Hey guys!"

The toys all gathered around the trapdoor. Buzz kneeled down and reached his arm through the opening; Noel knew the floor below was much too far for the space toy to reach. "Woody…it's nice up here." Buzz said. Noel felt sad as he watched them saying good bye to their friend, but remembered what Andy had said about bringing him back.

The voice came up from below sounding sad: "Yeah…This must be that high note we were going to go out on, huh Buzz?"

"Oh, Woody" the cowgirl called down to him. "We'll be okay; we're all together…and you're going to college with Andy. And Woody…" She paused and looked away from him to the others clustered around her looking down the attic trap door.

"Go on, Jessie, tell him!" The Slinky dog was wagging his little spring tail excitedly. The piggy bank said "Yeah," and even the horse that Noel was sure belonged to the cowgirl whinnied as if agreeing.

Jessie looked back down the steps at the still unseen toy below. "Woody…he _talked _to us!" It sounded like the most important words she had ever spoken. "He said some really nice things about us! And about you! About how we meant a lot to him and how he would never forget any of us." She looked around for a moment, then looked back down the stairs. "He said he couldn't let you go yet, but thought he'd be bringing you home to us soon, because he said you'd be safer here, and we should all be together." Noel knew she was fighting back tears. "Oh Woody…he told us he loves us!"

"And he really loves you, Cowboy," the space man toy said.. "He's taking YOU with him for now. This isn't good bye. I don't think anything can permanently separate Team Woodrow Pride Lightyear."

Noel heard the toy downstairs give a sad laugh. "I guess you're right, Space Ranger. Andy will be back soon. I guess this is it for now guys."

Noel watched the toys say their good byes to their friend downstairs from his hiding spot, knowing that his life was about to change tremendously. The toys all looked nice, but it had been so long since his last interaction (aside from the nightly Morse conversations with Frank) that the thought of approaching them seemed intimidating. Trying to hide from them forever wasn't an option…but he decided to stay hidden at least for a while.

Once the boy downstairs had closed the attic trap door, the toys wasted no time. "Let's see what we have up here," Buzz said, and the toys began to fan out, exploring their new surroundings. Noel carefully rolled himself underneath a sofa, hoping he wouldn't be found.

"There's a lot of room up here!" the piggy bank observed, making his way toward the center of the attic.

"Let's hope no one notices anything if we move a few things around," Buzz said. "We should figure out a way to get back up to that table quickly so we can be there when Andy brings Woody back."

"We can move some of those boxes and make steps!" the green dinosaur said, and Buzz nodded his agreement. Buzz, Jessie, and the dinosaur began pushing some of the smaller boxes toward the table and soon had constructed a stack that would let them climb back up again quickly. Meanwhile, the two potatohead toys and some of the others began exploring the maze of boxes in the middle of the attic.

The slinky dog asked a question that intrigued Noel: "Hey, I wonder where the Christmas ornaments are?"

"Good question, Slink," Buzz said. "I would have thought they would have come out to say hi by now." He raised his voice: "Hey! Christmas guys! You up here?"

Noel thought about revealing himself right then, but decided to stick to his original plan to wait. He hoped he would be able to talk to Frank tonight without them noticing.

"I don't think they would hide from us," Jessie said. "Maybe Andy's mom keeps them in the garage? I don't see the old television either."

"We've got plenty of books to read," Buzz observed. "That looks like a complete set of encyclopedias; we won't run out of reading material anytime soon as least."

"And we all have each other," the dinosaur said happily. "This is going to be okay up here!"

"This looks like a good place to sleep!" Slinky said from the labyrinth of boxes in the middle of the attic. Noel knew they were arranged in a way that formed aisles as well as several small "rooms" if they wanted to use them as such. Noel watched the toys from his hiding place as they gathered in the big clearing as the shadows grew long and the light faded. They were talking quietly among themselves now, obviously worn out from a stressful day. Soon they began to rise and make their way into the labyrinth of the boxes and their voices faded; it was almost like Noel was alone in the attic again. _Not for much longer_, he thought.

That night, when Frank flashed his usual HELLO, Noel decided to stick to his resolve about not telling him about his new friends, at least yet.

HI FRANK. WHAT'S NEW?

DARYL FOUND A NEW TOY TODAY, A SMALL SOLDIER WITH A PARACHUTE. I THINK DARYL TOOK HIM MOSTLY FOR THE PARACHUTE. Daryl was Darren's younger brother, who had inherited Frank and a lot of other toys a couple years ago, when Darren left for college.

GOOD, Noel flashed back. CAN'T HAVE TOO MANY TOYS. He looked nervously behind him, but it didn't appear any of the toys had noticed the flashing light.

HE'S JUST A LITTLE GUY, SMALLER THAN DARYL'S OTHER SOLDIERS. I'M GOING TO BE HIS FRIEND SO THE OTHERS DON'T PICK ON HIM.

This was one of those times Noel wished Frank was more than just his Morse Code friend. He loved Frank, for his compassion for him and for Daryl's other toys. GOOD FOR YOU! I'M SURE HE'LL APPRECIATE IT.

They said their good nights, and Noel rolled himself back under the sofa to wait for the next day to begin.

The next morning, the space man (Buzz, Noel had learned his name was) was the first toy to be up and about, and while he was exploring the attic by himself, the other toys one by one emerged from behind the boxes. Noel decided that it was time, and he nervously took a deep breath and slowly rolled himself out from under the sofa and moved toward them. Jessie spotted him first and her face lit up with a smile. "Well, hello there!" she cried happily. "Who are you?" The other toys all turned to look curiously at the new arrival.

"My name is Noel, and…" he decided to let it go at that.

"Well, aren't you the cutest thing!" Jessie went over to him and gently picked him up off the floor. Noel looked at her as she gently held him and thought his heart would explode with happiness.

"Hello, Noel," Buzz said and started to extend his arm for a handshake. When he saw that Noel didn't have any arms, he paused for a moment, and then gently patted Noel's plastic shell. "We come in peace."

The other toys were all gathering around now, and each one greeted Noel in their own way. Jessie carried him over to the clearing where they had all gathered together the day before. "How long have you been up here?" She gently set him down on the floor again, and the toys all sat around him at a respectful distance in a semicircle around him.

"A very long time," he answered. His initial nervousness was already gone after the warm way they had all greeted him, and it felt wonderful to have someone to actually talk to face to face. "It's good to have company again."

"You've been up here all alone?" Jessie asked. "You poor thing!"

"You're not alone any more," Buzz told him. "Hope you don't mind us moving in?"

"No, no…I'm very glad you're here. I hope we can all be friends?"

"Of course we will!" Jessie said. "How did you end up here all by yourself?"

Noel began to tell them his story, about Tommy and the happiest three years of his life, about being sealed up inside the box and sleeping for an unknown length of time (he sighed sadly when Buzz gently told him what year it was now), and about how the box finally had finally come open on its own here in this attic, allowing him to wake up again. The words came slowly at first, then began to pour out of him in a rush. When he told them how he had been alone in the attic for so long, able to hear them and Andy through the floor below, Jessie's eyes filled with tears and she gently picked him up again and held him in her lap, where he stayed until his story finally began to wind down and he began feeling very sleepy. But it wasn't the sleepiness of his battery running down; instead it was as if a huge burden had finally been lifted from him, and he felt himself beginning to doze off in Jessie's lap, cradled in her arms. He would have fallen asleep, except once he had finished talking, all the toys gathered around him and Jessie, each offering gentle words of friendship.

"I have to go to sleep soon," Noel said drowsily. "I sleep in the day and am up all night. I need to sleep in the sun to recharge my battery."

"Well, let's get you to bed then!" Jessie said, and carefully stood up, still cradling Noel. "Where do you like to sleep?"

"Over there on the floor by the southern window where the sun will reach me." He indicated an area with his gaze on the other side of the wall of boxes, and Jessie moved in that direction. She stopped in front of the patch of sunlight streaming in through the window.

"You just sleep on the floor?" she asked him.

Noel smiled. "It's a little hard for me to climb very high with no arms," and the dinosaur snorted with laughter.

"Yeah, I know that feeling," Rex told him and they all laughed.

"Wouldn't you be better off on the window sill?" Buzz asked. "You might get more direct sunlight."

Noel realized he was right, and that his new friends would help him up there if he wanted. "Yes, I would."

Buzz looked up at the window appraisingly. "We'll figure out a way to get you up there."

"Here, Jessie," the slinky dog said, stepping forward. "Give him to me."

Jessie gently passed Noel over to Slinky, and all the toys gathered around to say goodnight. Then Slinky extended his spring body upward and gently set Noel on the windowsill, carefully making sure he couldn't roll off. "Good night, everyone," he said and almost immediately fell asleep.

Buzz and the other toys made their way back to the other side of the boxes. It almost seemed by unspoken agreement at that moment that where they'd set Noel was "his" side of the attic, while the other, larger side was "theirs."

The next morning when they gathered together, the toys shared their stories with Noel, about how Buzz had suddenly joined their group, and how they and Woody had rescued him from Sid and his fireworks (Noel laughed hysterically as they described how they suddenly came to life in front of Sid, scaring the poor kid into hopefully not abusing his toys anymore, all the while thinking maybe he should have done the same with Tommy), how Jessie and Bullseye had joined them when the toyman had kidnapped Woody…

And so the days and weeks went by. Buzz found an old sweatshirt and laid it on the floor in front of the window where Noel slept so he could roll off the windowsill to a soft landing whenever he wanted to get up. Noel would visit with the toys for an hour or two in the morning, then go off to sleep for the day, tucked gently on the windowsill, at first by Slinky and then by Buzz. His new spot on the windowsill made it possible to signal Frank with little likelihood of being detected by his new friends. Noel never mentioned them to Frank, nor told them about Frank, preferring to keep those two parts of his life separate. Frank was ten minutes of Morse conversation a day at most; the toys were 24/7, and he welcomed them, and they respected his very different schedule.

Buzz and Noel found a common interest in the set of encyclopedias, and Noel happily began to read them again from cover to cover, A-Z, alongside Buzz. Noel also found a special affinity with the three aliens: They were closest to his size, and often took turns carrying him places in the attic. He loved how they all three spoke at once, as if sharing a single mind. And Jessie…Noel loved her almost like a child loves his mother. Buzz was his best friend, but Jessie was who he went to for comfort, and they often spoke about his Tommy and her Emily.

About two months later, the attic trap door dropped open again, and everyone scurried to where they needed to be, Noel hiding behind boxes and the toys quickly climbing back up onto the table. Andy appeared again, this time carrying a single toy, a cowboy doll, and set him on the table.

"There," he said, gazing fondly at his toys. "Now you are all back together again. College really wasn't the right place for you Woody." He stayed another long moment, then said goodbye to them again and left, closing the attic door.

As soon as he was gone, a huge celebration erupted, everyone wanting to greet Woody at the same time. Finally, they climbed back down off the table, and Woody looked curiously around the attic. "I love what you've done with the place," he said, a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"Heyyy, he's starting in already!" Hamm said, playfully bumping into Woody and almost knocking him off his feet.

"Woody, there's somebody here for you to meet," Buzz told him, and Noel rolled out from behind the boxes. Woody looked curiously at the new arrival. "Woody," Buzz went on, sounding very formal. "This is Noel. Noel, this is our old friend Woody, finally rejoining us."

"Well, hello Noel!" Woody stepped forward, extending his hand for a shake, and then made the same observation Buzz had made the first time he had seen him. "Heh…_hehh!_ No arms, so you can't shake hands. I bet you get that a _lot!_"

That was the moment Noel began to love him like the other toys did. He rolled forward, and only stopped when he had rolled up against Woody's boots. "My bumping in to you is my way of shaking your hand," Noel told him, smiling up from the floor. "I've heard a lot about you, Cowboy."

"All of it good, I'm sure," Woody answered smugly, and a couple of the toys snickered.

"Not all of it," Hamm stage-whispered, and they all laughed aloud. Noel rolled alongside Woody as he continued forward, appraising the attic.

"Seriously Buzz," Woody said finally after looking around the attic for awhile, taking in the maze of boxes dividing the room into two uneven halves and all the other clutter. "This place looks pretty safe and comfortable. You guys obviously haven't been suffering for the last two months. I can't wait to tell you about college and Andy's roommates; but for right now…" he bowed his head solemnly. "It's just really good to be home."

"It's good to have you back, Cowboy," Buzz said, and the toys all crowded together for one last group hug. Noel watched from outside, smiling happily and then rolled to join them when Jessie and Buzz looked at him. Life was good, and they all found ways to have fun, learn things, and help each other keep boredom at bay…until that fateful day some four years later, when something happened and they all had to pull together to help one of their own.


End file.
